Doctor Strange - Review
* 26 October 2016

This review is spoiler-free, aside from descriptive plot
setup.

Benedict Cumberbatch is truly a leading man.

Sorry if it seems like we're pointing out the obvious. After
all, we've known it for ages thanks to Sherlock. But in Doctor
Strange, he is shouldered with the responsibility of carrying a
gigantic, expensive, effects filled action blockbuster, and he
makes it look as effortlessly easy as you'd hope, want and probably
expect.

For the uninitiated, this is one of those often portrayed
superhero origin stories. In short setup - brilliant yet glory
seeking surgeon loses the use of his hands, travels the world, and
then unexpectedly gets swept up in learning about magic and other,
odd dimensions of existence. It happens. Truth be told, Doctor
Strange already shares much in the way of DNA with other Marvel
Cinematic Universe heroes that have already graced the cinema
screen. As is relatively common among the characters origin films,
the basic through-line finds them overcoming personal weakness to
emerge better than they were. While possibly like the literal
physical weakness of Steven Rogers before he becomes Captain
America, Strange is closer to Tony Stark and Thor (and not simply
the natty red cape in the case of the latter). He is arrogant and
hubristically overconfident, until unforeseen events that are
ultimately actually caused by his own actions forces him to better
himself. Tony Stark decides a weapons-test-come-publicity-event in
the middle of a war zone is a good idea, leading to severe injury.
Thor rushes headlong into battle without considering patience and
politics, and is thus stripped of his powers until he is worthy of
regaining them. Stephen Strange loses the use of his hands thanks
to a phone holding his attention while driving a Lamborghini
Huracan (Hey, at least it's glamourously ironic) causing him to
search for any possible way to repair them, but instead leading him
to places beyond comprehension.

First up, there's not much of Sherlock to be seen here, despite
the on-paper character traits being remarkably similar. Both are
brilliant, intelligent, arrogant individuals, sure with absolute
certainty that they are the best person in the room. What separates
Strange from Holmes though is a hefty dollop of fully formed
humanity. Benedict's interpretation of Sherlock Holmes is of a man
who is still finding his way through human social interaction at a
relatively basic level. Stephen Strange is a man used to the social
high life, living on materialistic wealth while intent on saving
lives for his own self publicity. He is surprisingly polite too,
and Benedict brings vulnerability to temper the arrogance. Early
scenes, spanning months, where he attempts to adapt to his new
status quo display a shattering anger that is still strikingly
sympathetic. Later on there's an intriguing turn where Strange
directly questions the use of his burgeoning powers when he is a
doctor and thus sworn to protect life, displaying more acting
material for Benedict to get his teeth into. There's near constant
physical acting work too, the damaged hands constantly shaking,
while visually there's a fun parallel in terms of iconic dress
sense. There's a possibility the Cloak of Levitation could give
Sherlock's Belstaff coat a run for its money - not least as it's
pretty handy in a fight - and yes, there's the inescapable 'turning
your coat collar up so you look cool' moment. Combine everything
together and this is a realistic, naturalistic performance in a
film that is intentionally anything but. Benedict utterly grounds
proceedings when the surroundings are plunging into visual
insanity, and it is arguably the strongest performance by the lead
actor in any MCU movie. He ultimately picks to paint in the tiny
details, instead of the broad strokes that define other
characters.

The supporting cast is uniformly excellent, but the film has an
interesting quirk in that there is little sense of a truly
developing family unit of characters here. There's a striking lack
of bromance for instance between Strange and his contemporary
Mordo, played by with chilly strength by Chiwetel Ejiofor - though
comics readers of the character may be clued in as to exactly why
that decision has been taken. Instead, the warmest relationship in
the film is with The Ancient One, played by Tilda Swinton. Neatly
and cleverly sidestepping the white-washing issues that plagued
early publicity for the film, The Ancient One is an intentionally
mysterious presence, softly yet sympathetically aloof while a total
badass to boot. Cumberbatch and Swinton share arguably the most
eloquent scene in the film, wrapped in visual effects but the
performances shining through, and it's frankly astonishing to think
a film of this type allows actors of such calibre to play off each
other to such a standard.

As bad guy Kaecilius, Mads Mikkelsen (brother of Lars
'Magnussen' Mikkelsen, but you knew that) is an imposing physical
presence laced with sardonic wit, all while his less than involving
motivations boil down to the standard 'evil dude wants to summon
destruction because he thinks he's right' plotline. Interesting
parallels are drawn between Kaecilius and Strange throughout
though, and a moment where the latter directly touches a nerve in
the Doctor's worldview feels genuinely potentially dangerous.
Rounding out the magical group is another Benedict, Benedict Wong,
as, uh, Wong. Entertainingly stoic, Wong has wisely been elevated
from the comic interpretation as Strange's manservant to a much
weightier role here, though he still comedically falls victim to
the headstrong actions of Strange at times. The film also winningly
borrows Robert Downey Jr's Irene Adler, with Rachel McAdams
inhabiting an underused spot in the cast as Christine Palmer, a
former sort-of flame of Strange's. The pair don't get enough time
together to properly spark off each other, but it's pleasing that
Christine is closer to Natalie Portman's Jane Foster than Scarlett
Johansson's Black Widow, with the added bonus that the plot doesn't
decide to put her in need of distressed damsel rescue at any point.
She is simply a highly capable woman, excellent at her job, who
Strange comes to rely on more than once.

Director Scott Derrickson has a background in horror cinema, and
that skill-set is put to subtle yet imaginative use. The 'magic'
here verses the wand work in the Harry Potter films is arguably
like the difference that separates the custard pies of Bugsy Malone
and the bullets of The Untouchables. There's a crunchy, dangerous
physicality to the effects based conjuring that serves to heighten
the action, glassy weapons pulled out of thin air and crackling
fire-like whips exploding from hands. Couple that with the
dizzying, possibly even overwhelming collapsing kaleidoscope
cityscapes that frame many set pieces - it's easy to think recently
and call what you're seeing 'Inception on Speed', but we'd prefer
'Escher on Acid' - and it's clear that the visuals on offer in the
film are astonishing, and that's even before exceptionally pretty
dimensional travel comes into it. Doctor Strange is an utter feast
for the eyes, while Michael Giachinno's debut Marvel Studios score
is a sonic highlight, ranging from the quiet to the epic through an
array of instrumentation and plunging choir. It mixes the
composer's familiar flavours with something new, resulting in a
woozy brew infused with the sounds of classic rock that sounds
utterly unlike any other Marvel soundtrack. The film does suffer
some mild problems, mostly at script level. The humour is
chucklesome rather than uproariously funny - you know there might
be a slight issue when the first sting in the end credits is
funnier than any intended laugh in the main film itself - and the
motivations of the bad guys are relatively nebulous for much of the
runtime. That said though, the denouement is imaginatively clever
once you realise what is going on, and only serves to reinforce the
greatest strength of this main character as he is forced to realise
it - his most powerful weapon is not his body, but his mind.

And there we again swing back to that obvious parallel. While
both are brilliant and intelligent men, Doctor Strange is not
Sherlock, and Benedict Cumberbatch has obviously taken great pains
to ensure that in his performance. It is a delight to see the actor
placed in command of such a huge canvas, bringing something
entirely new to his acting repertoire while ultimately underlining
and putting a full stop on the fact that yes, he can absolutely
carry a film of this size, complexity and budget with ease. If you
are a fan of Benedict Cumberbatch, Doctor Strange is an absolute
must-see joy.